Florida Georgia Line is a duo that formed out of Nashville in 2010 that has brought an interesting twist to Country music since their start. Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard met at Belmont University in a worship group on campus and there dreamt up the idea of becoming a famous country duo. And not to my surprise, who else but the Nickelback producer, Joey Moi, was the one who discovered them. This seems only fitting because the two bands in my opinion are very similar. How would I describe Nickelback Fans? There are two kinds. One group of fans is full of fervent followers who listen to Nickelback and Nickelback only, go to every concert, and proudly proclaim them as their favorite band. The other group of fans is full of followers who only secretly listen to Nickelback songs in fear of being shamed by the rest of society. These two groups of fans are the same for Florida Georgia Line followers. Because many people hate on the band, if you love them, you either shout it from the mountaintops or you secretly know every lyric while denying ever having heard of them.
Florida Georgia Line has three albums comprised of very catchy songs, I’ll admit, but they are in no sense of the word Country. On their website they even admit to being different claiming to be, “artists who defy trends to pave something new, something original, something maybe a little shocking at the time.” I would say their style is definitely shocking… Do you think King George would listen to their new album, Anything Goes, on his way to the rodeo? I don’t think so. In my opinion, they are just another pop band that happens to have a little twang in their voice. Since forming in 2010, Florida Georgia Line has brought something totally new to the Country Genre. In the past 5 years they have had five number 1 singles on Country radio charts, which makes me wonder who is actually listening to these stations. But let’s talk about one specific hit single that has brought much controversy to Country Music listeners…
Cruise (Remix). Bum bum bummm. Now let me ask you something, when is it ever okay to pair a Hip Hop rapper, Nelly, with a small town duo who claims to be Country? The two just don’t go hand in hand. The country rap single has been detrimental to classic Country Music because now other artists like Thomas Rhett with I Feel Good (ft Lunchmoney Lewis) and Blake Shelton with Boys ‘Round Here (ft Pistol Annies & Friends) think it’s okay to mix the two genres. Music is split into genres for a reason and it should stay that way. Florida Georgia Line and the other artists I mentioned have the potential to really do well because each one is very talented, but please for the love of Country Music, steer clear of these poppy lyrics and featured rappers.
After reading the title I thought this post was just going to be aggressive, but it was really funny. This sounded almost like a stand up comedian going on a rant about Florida Georgia Line that was only so funny because it was relatable and came from a really true place. The reference to Nickleback fans was on point as well. I thought it really showed some knowledge of the industry to tie together that they had the same producer. Overall I thought this was brilliant and I wish there was more that I could have kept reading.
Like Max, I thought this post was going to be on the aggressive side, but it turned out to be pretty funny and entertaining. I liked how you grouped FGL and Nickelback fans together. Personally, I don’t mind Nickelback at all, but I most definitely wouldn’t consider myself a “fervent” fan. I probably only listen to one or two songs and that’s because of my freshman year roommate. In addition, I absolutely agree that country and rap should not be mixed together. They don’t complement each other, and come to think about it, “Cruise” does sound a little weird.
I completely agree with this blog post. It actually made me laugh out loud. I am a George Strait kind of country music listener, so when songs like Cruise started playing on country radio, I stopped listening as much. I used to know every song that would play on the radio, now it has gotten to the point where I don’t know most of the songs being played. Last year my brother made me go with him to see Florida Georgia Line at the Houston Rodeo. Every song they played sounded exactly the same. They were more of a pop, rock band than a country one. Florida Georgia Line is a disgrace to country music.
“And not to my surprise, who else but the Nickelback producer, Joey Moi, was the one who discovered them.” Wow, this made my day. I have always thought that Florida Georgia Line belonged on a different radio station and this confirms my beliefs. Thank you so much for writing this article. I think I agree with almost everything you wrote, except for when you said Florida Georgia Line are talented. Eh, I don’t think so…Other than that, I agree with you that rap and country should stay far away from each other (although I absolutely love listening to them both).
I understand Julie Kleberg’s argument that mixing music genres is detrimental to both parties involved; however, to survive in this day and age of music it is necessary to appeal the mainstream media. For example, Taylor Swift has blended pop and country music realizing that more and more listeners these days enjoy catchy music as opposed to traditional country music.
Personally, as a person who likes Nickelback (I don’t openly admit it), I can relate to what you said about their two different types of audiences. Also, it was interesting to me that Nickelback’s producer is now working with Florida Georgia Line.
Julie,
It sounds like you don’t really like Florida Georgia Line. Honestly, I do it like the Cruise remix with Nelly as country music and rap/hip-hop music should NEVER be mixed together. Now to the other artists you mentioned, I think those guys saw the response they got from the song they did that had some mix to it, they realized to stick to their true roots of what bought them to their stardom.
Julie, I completely agree with your musings on Nickelback and FGL and how you compared them. It’s honestly a little crazy how many people like to hop on the hate bandwagon without even having taken time to listen to a Nickelback or FGL album. Although, I will admit, I’ve given Nickelback some serious flack for “Photograph” and have yet to hear the full song. As for the Cruise remix – yikes. Once the obnoxious autotune piped in several seconds into the song, I simply could not even. Anytime you take a supposedly country song and try to not only turn it into pop, but then also add in autotone, you have lost any inkling of my desire to hear that song. Genre-bending can be okay sometimes, but not this horrid rap/pop/country mixture. I agree with you.
It all makes a lot more sense after you pointed out the Nickleback connection. I always thought there was some similarity there but I never knew it was the same producer. I don’t think its always easy for country to stay clear of other genres. I think that when country music blends with other music at certain times it can end up being great, like Patsy Cline, but other times it can go too far. It’s alright for them to try out new things, such as Johnny Cash’s cover of the pop song “Hurt” but in some cases such as Florida Georgia Line I think its more in the interest of money than creating a good music.
This was hilarious. Nothing makes laugh harder than hearing the word “Nickelback” (sorry to the fans)… There is a fine line between talent and noise, and I really do believe that every song I have heard from FGL has been complete garbage to my ears. Sure “Cruise” is very catchy, but it is not something I even think about when I think of originality. The reason I am being so harsh is simply because I feel like there has been so much talent in the country world and it is full of people who are in the business for their love of music and entertaining, FGL is just another group of aspiring money grabbers that are in the industry for the sole purpose of getting rich quick and being tacky about it.
You know, I agree. They’re all too confusing to me. I don’t like Florida Georgia Line either, and sadly, the first song I had ever performed in front of an audience was deemed to be “Cruise.” I wasn’t too happy about that being the opening song to the event. I even found the song choice funny since it wasn’t for an entire Texas population, but for an international crowd. We couldn’t go “too” country with the song choice, but we wanted to maybe acquaint them what country music may have sounded like, and I guess FGL displayed a slightly country enough vibe. I really enjoyed this post, and it brought up a cool memory of mine so thanks for sharing!